Universally Vocal
Universally Vocal is a Canadian a cappella group from Vancouver. British Columbia, currently consisting of vocalists Nick Ettinger, Rebecca Ettinger, Albert Oray, Declan Tonking, Tyler Messner, and Anna Hoffman-Kotevski. Characterized by their unique arrangements with vocal harmonies, vocal effects, basslines, riffing, and vocal percussion, they produce covers of a variety of songs, ranging from modern music to 50's doo wop, along with original material. Career History The group formed in early 2011 by siblings Nicolas 'Nick' Ettinger (born July 30th, 1998) and Rebecca Ettinger (born February 18th, 2002), who wanted to form a youth choir to perform at Coastal Church: their local Christian church. They eventually recruited fellow churchgoers and close friends Cameron Hawkins (born August 4th, 1996), Brandon Newhouse (born August 5th, 1998), and Matthew Cardenas (born May 5th, 1999). They originally started out as a classical choir, typically performing with accompanying piano music. But later in the year, they decided to switch to being an a cappella group, hoping to appeal to their youth-oriented audience. They modeled themselves after rising a cappella group Pentatonix, with the Ettingers doing vocal percussion and singing mezzo-soprano, Hawkins singing high tenor, Newhouse singing bass, and Cardenas singing baritone. They found that their audience responded well to this change, and they continued performing at their church and at local religious events for a few months. In 2012, while attending John Oliver Secondary School, the elder Ettinger, Hawkins, and Newhouse met and became friends with Albert Oray (born December 1st, 1998), whom they met after seeing him perform at their school's Halloween Showcase. Oray, who was also Christian and looking for a new church, was welcomed into the Coastal Church and let the group know that he would be open to joining if there was an opening. A few months later, due to being stressed out with his declining school grades, Hawkins decided to retire from the group, allowing Oray to take his place as the group's tenor. In 2016, the elder Ettinger, Oray, and Newhouse graduated high school; while the former two attended the University of British Columbia, Newhouse moved to Florida to pursue a mechanical and aerospace engineering degree at the University of Florida, thereby leaving the group. To fill this spot, Rebecca introduced the group to Tyler Messner (born August 29th, 2000), whom she met after meeting as members of her school's filmmaking club. Although Messner did a few performances with them, he didn't feel that he could be an effective long-term bass, but he agreed to stay on board as a video editor. To replace him, they called on Declan Tonking (June 5th, 1996), who was a longtime friend, youth leader and bassist from their church's choir. Tonking did a few performances with them, and was eventually welcomed as a a full-time member of the group. With the addition of Messner and Tonking, the group began properly filming their performances and posting edited videos onto YouTube. Within six months, the group amassed roughly 45,000 subscribers and nearly a million video views on their channel. This sudden increase in popularity caused them to receive offers to give paid performances around the city, on the condition that they perform some non-religious songs. Seeing the direction that the group was going and with a desire to focus on his blossoming lacrosse career, Cardenas decided to retire from the group. In need of a baritone, the group decided to once again approach Messner to become a vocalist in the group. After another few test performances, Messner agreed to sign-on full time. In the summer of 2018, Rebecca Ettinger accepted the opportunity to study in France for a semester; as a result, she was unable to perform for the following months, but remained a part of the group. To replace her, Rebecca called on Breanna Masiello (born June 4th, 2002), a friend of her's whom she met while working together on a music composition project. However, with the increasing demands of performing on top of school obligations, Breanna was unable to commit full-time to the group. Breanna subsequently agreed to split commitments with Anna Hoffman-Kotevski (born February 12th, 1998), a friend of Messner with extensive knowledge of music theory. By early 2019, Breanna decided to leave the group permanently, finding it difficult to keep up with performing and school. Hoffman-Kotevski agreed to perform full-time until Rebecca's return. However, upon Rebecca returning to Canada, she proposed keeping Hoffman-Kotevski as a permanent member. After a few test performances, she was sworn in as an official member, bringing the amount of members to six. Musical Background, Roles and Style All current members of Universally Vocal have some form of musical and vocal training, mostly from choral singing. Nick Ettinger and Hoffman-Kotevski are pursuing bachelor's degrees in Music Studies, while Oray and Messner are pursuing minors in the same field whilst majoring in Business Management and Computer Sciences, respectively. Rebecca Ettinger plans to study Music Studies and Education upon graduating from high school. Tonking is the only one to have graduated university, having done so in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Theatre Design and Production. The group uses a very loose structure with regards to vocal roles; each member takes turns singing lead for different songs. When singing, Rebecca Ettinger is a mezzo-soprano, Nick Ettinger is a tenor, Albert Oray is a natural tenor with baritone capabilities, Declan Tonking is a natural bass with baritone capabilities, Tyler Messner is a natural baritone with tenor & bass capabilities, and Anna Hoffman-Kotevski is an alto. In addition, the Ettingers, Tonking, and Messner take turns doing vocal percussion when needed. The group started off as a religious choir, performing mainly religious songs and hymns in accordance with their church's hymnal. Upon transitioning into an a cappella group, they began singing songs from different genres, including modern pop, rhythm & blues, and doo wop. With the additions of Oray, Messner, Masiello (prior to her departure), and Hoffman-Kotevski, the group began pulling away from purely religious songs and began orientating themselves towards mainstream music from the past and present. As Oray puts it, 'They thoroughly enjoy modern music, but they will never forget the music that came before them'. Members Current Menbers * Rebecca Ettinger - Mezzo-Soprano Lead, Backing Vocals, Vocal Percussion (2011-Present) * Nicolas 'Nick' Ettinger - Tenor Lead, Backing Vocals, Vocal Percussion (2011-present) * Albert Oray - Tenor Lead, Baritone Lead, Backing Vocals (2012-present) * Declan Tonking - Bass Lead, Baritone Lead, Vocal Bass, Backing Vocals, Vocal Percussion (2016-present) * Tyler Messner - Baritone Lead, Tenor Lead, Bass Lead, Vocal Bass, Backing Vocals, Vocal Percussion (2017-present) * Anna Hoffman-Kotevski - Alto Lead, Backing Vocals (2018-present) Former Members * Cameron Hawkins - Tenor Lead, Backing Vocals (2011-2012) * Brandon Newhouse - Bass Lead, Vocal Bass (2011-2016) * Matthew Cardenas - Baritone Lead, Backing Vocals (2011-2017) * Breanna Masiello - Soprano Lead, Backing Vocals (2018-2019)